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Stop making me care about interleague!

I know I’m supposed to let go my puritan ways and appreciate the “fun” and “excitement” that is interleague baseball. Yet after 14 years of interleague, I still find it weird. Not fascinatingly weird. Just uncomfortably weird. Is it just me?

My reasons are painfully obvious, but here they are for the record.

I want my designated hitter! Frig off, National League purists! The DH position is not blasphemy! It’s enough that the AL has to play by NL rules three or four times during the World Series. Now you’re making us do this ten times more or less in the regular season?

I mean, have you seen Ivan Nova bunt?! I did tonight and it was terrible! But maybe it’s just as well he never made it to first base. Anyone remember Chien-Ming Wang back in 2008 against the Astros? Injured his foot running the bases and has not been the same pitcher since. Oh, come on, Bee, get it together, you’re thinking. Yeah? Well, 2008 sucked for Yankees fans! And I don’t handle suckage very well.

Remember how special the Subway Series was in 2000? I do. And now it happens six times every year. And sadly, it’s not nearly as exciting these days.

How fair is it for teams that don’t have a Very Special AL-NL Rivalry? Not every city or state (or in my case, country) is blessed with two teams to create a clever name for a series. Why is it the Phillies or Red Sox don’t have a special pairing? Or the Diamondbacks? But then again what team wants to be paired up with the Diamondbacks?

WHAT IS WITH THE SCHEDULE? Is there any rhyme or reason? Why is it we get this tease of interleague in May and then suddenly we’re bombarded with two weeks of it in June/July? Why not schedule a stop for the Bombers in Houston after they’ve played a series in Texas to reduce exhausting travel time? Pepper it throughout the schedule instead of this block of *INTERLEAGUE BALL TIME* that sticks out like a sore thumb. Which reminds me…

I don’t give two shits about the Colorado Rockies. But now I have to watch my Yankees play them in the regular season. Go screw, Selig!

For the record, the Yankees have the highest winning percentage in interleague play. That’s just not enough to make me relish interleague play in the regular season. I liked it better when it was special, when you faced the team from the opposing league in the World Series. Like it used to be before the wheel was invented. Of course, this is one very pedestrian opinion from one crusty American League fan. Tell us what you think in the comments. I promise I won’t argue with you for hating the DH rule.